FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES. 



377 



fisliermon free of charge, on condition that fish be returned to tlie 

 firms furnishing- the packages and that the supplies needed in the fisli- 

 eries be purchased from them. A slight charge is made for the empty 

 packages, but the fishermen are credited for the amount when the 

 barrels are returned filled. 



In salting fish the method is as follows: The heads and viscera are 

 removed and the fish are split down the belly like a codfish, though 

 the backbone is not removed. This practice, together with the shrink- 

 age from salting, makes a loss of one-fourth or one-third in the original 

 weight of the fish. The priee received for the salt fish is about the same 

 as that commanded by fish when sold fresh in a round condition. 



Whitefish have for a number of .years been graded as Kos. 1, 2, aud 

 3; No. 1 to weigh 2 pounds or over; No. 2, from 1 to IJ pounds, and 

 No. 3, 1 pound or less. Previous to 1891 trout were all branded No. 1, 

 regardless of size. In that year, however, the trade began packing 

 and numbering the salt trout as follows: No. 1 to weigh Impounds or 

 more, and No. 2 under 1^ pounds. The rules as to packing aud grading 

 are unwritten laws of the trade, not being subject to legal regulations. 



Statistics of L alee Superior fisheries. — In the following tables, the 

 extent of the fisheries of Lake Superior is shown by States and coun- 

 ties. The tables relate to the persons employed in ditferent capacities, 

 the vessels, boats, apparatus, and capital devoted to the industry, and 

 the quantity and value of the products taken. For the products, three 

 tables are sho\yn, one giving the catch of the entire lake, classified by 

 species, another showing the results of the vessel fishery, and the third 

 giving in great detail the catch of each form of apparatus. 



TahJe showing iij States and couniics the niunher of persons employed in the fisheries of 

 LaJce Superior in 1890. 



